Rush's Woes, Kobe's Dress
Christopher Ruddy
Monday, Oct. 13, 2003
Rush’s Woes
As the major media show their glee at Rush Limbaugh’s troubles, they are wrong on two points.
The National Enquirer and others have referred to Rush as a “moralizer.”
As his regular listeners know, Rush is not a moralizer. He rarely talks about religion, nor does he put on a “holier than thou” front.
Rush can be funny, bombastic, on the edge – but a member of the Moral Majority he’s not. Second, many press reports have quoted Rush’s comments about drug addicts and pushers, in an effort to show some sort of hypocrisy on his part.
In my mind there is a big difference between Rush Limbaugh and a cocaine or crack addict.
Rush has said, and we have every reason to believe him, that he began taking prescription drugs, painkillers, after a medical procedure. He needed the drugs for physical pain and he got hooked, and apparently somewhat obsessed, by the need for the drugs.
This condition is quite understandable. I can think of many people who have had similar addictions. It’s unfortunate, but it happens.
Another star who got hooked on prescription drugs was Elvis. So much so that he killed himself with them.
Of course, some pundits pointed to Elvis’ hypocrisy, as he was a noted Republican who joined with President Nixon in his efforts to stem illegal drug use. Elvis was even sworn in as an honorary "Federal Agent-at-Large" in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.
To his dying day, Nixon always defended Elvis, who Nixon noted had a prescription drug addiction.
Another thing: As for seeking out illegal drug prescriptions, we should remember that for almost the entire rest of the world there is no such thing as an illegal prescription. Many Third World countries, and some First World ones, allow drugs to be easily obtained by just asking a pharmacist for the drug with no prescription.
My guess is that America, with all of its strict drug laws and prescription rules, has a worse drug problem than many of these countries with more liberal drug practices.
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant has the best attorneys in the world. He must be paying them millions of dollars.
They are so clever they are already outfoxing the prosecution, with accidental mentions of the accuser’s name – and leading questions that suggest the accuser is, well, a slut.
For all of their courtroom tactics, they can’t get Kobe Bryant to show up in a jacket and tie for court appearances that may decide whether he’ll serve the rest of his life in the slammer.
Either Kobe doesn’t like someone to tell him how to dress, or his lawyers are too stupid to figure it out. Appearance is important and speaks volumes. Citizens, some of whom may just sit on his jury, are already making all sorts of judgments about the NBA star.
Americans, especially the rest of us in flyover country outside New York and Los Angeles, live by certain rules of decorum. If you go to a funeral you wear a suit. If you go before a judge you wear a suit.
So far, Kobe has shown up at two court appearances dressed in the best clothes Rodeo Drive has to offer, brightly colored blazers with cosmopolitan-looking open-collar shirts. He looks as if he is ready for a night on the town – not for a serious legal proceeding in which he is being accused of a major crime.
It’s nice to look hip and flamboyant, unless you are accused of a serious crime.
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